Pumpkin Fun

I have to brag on my honey--aren't these pumpkins fabulous?! Mike did a great job carving them. The Tigger was a pattern and the Jack O' Lantern was designed by Austin. Can't wait to scrap these. HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!

Fall is in the air...

I love doing fall layouts. Here were a couple I got done on my scrapping trip. The first one is from last Thanksgiving. One of my new styles is blowing up pictures to use on my pages. I love this picture of Austin and his pumpkin turkey.





The second one is from this year's trip to the pumpkin patch. A big thanks to my friend Shawna who loaned me the pumpkin stamps and gave me the paper--I love the way it turned out.





As for my scrapping trip--I got SO MUCH done. I finished all but two pages of the 5 9x9 albums I'm making for Christmas gifts (can't post them yet, since some people who read my blog are going to be the lucky recipients). I also finished 6 layouts. I'm not posting the rest yet because they still need journaling and embellishments. Hang in there, I will eventually finish them. I want to send out a huge thank you to all the girls who I traveled to Palm Springs with. It was so wonderful to chat and eat and scrapbook and eat (did I say that already) with no kids or hubbies, just the girls. And that scrapbook store out there was to die for. I'd be even more broke than I already am if we lived closer to that one. I wish we could a trip like that once a month instead of once a year. I'd be completely up to date on my layouts--LOL!

All packed up...

So what do you pack for three days of scrapping? A little bit of everything. I think I'm being overly ambitious. I packed all the materials to make six 9 x9 accordion albums, finish my Disney album and about 15 other layouts. I wanted to make sure I had plenty to do--LOL! I'm just amazed that I packed so much in very few bags. This includes all my ink pads and markers and about a third of my stamps :) I am so excited. We leave in less than two hours. Hopefully the kids don't stress Daddy out too much while I'm gone. I am so ready for a break! I can't wait to share what I create when I get back. Have a fun weekend everyone.

I smell like a campfire...

but thankfully, we are still far away from the fires. Unfortunately, the wind changed and we are getting all the smoke from the fires in Lake Arrowhead. We can hardly see down the street, so I can't even imagine what people closer to fire lines are dealing with. We'll just keep praying that it doesn't come down this side of the mountain like it did four years ago. Also in our prayers are all the firefighters who are doing such a fantastic job with the horrendous conditions, the families who have been evacuated and especially those who have lost everything.

This really makes a person stop and think. It's so very scary. I know 4 years ago when we evacuated, it was such a dilemma what to take. We grabbed the Austin, the dogs, the safe with all the important stuff, and of course, my scrapbooks (no replacing those) and a few changes of clothes. The rest is just stuff. It's replaceable. My heart breaks for those that have lost their houses, but I am thankful that there have been so few casualties. To think that someone started at least several of these fires is sickening.

Anyway, wanted to let everyone know that we are ok and still far from the fire. I'm actually headed to Palm Springs this weekend for a scrapping trip with friends, so I won't be posting. How we managed to plan it so that we are leaving one place not on fire and headed to another that's not is amazing. The last two years this trip has been to Arrowhead and Big Bear--we really lucked out. Counting all our many blessings here in Southern California.

Pumpkin Fun

We went and picked our pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch Saturday. The kids had fun even though it was super windy. Hopefully

tonight we'll get to carve them.

Sometimes I really question my sanity...

Tonight I was so happy that I finished everything I needed to get done, including the card samples for Wednesday's class. I sat there with a (fairly) clean scrap room debating what to do. I could have worked on a couple pages. Could have started packing for the scrapbooking trip I'm taking next weekend. No, I took out ALL of my PAPER . No for those who don't know me well, I have just a little paper addiction. I think I could scrap for the next 30 years and not use up all my paper.

Anyway, it started, I just wanted to pull out my CTMH papers and separate out the cardstock, but I couldn't stop. I decided to reorganize it all. Crazy because after a couple hours, I'm sick of looking at paper and I've made a huge mess. My back hurts and I'm quitting for the night. On the positive side, my cabinet looks all neat and organized. However, I have piles upon pile that I need to go through. Someone please tell me why I can't even get rid of scraps of paper. Some of these bags are just full of scraps. I should just throw them away. Plus I have all this paper that has been sitting here forever. For those of you who've been with CTMH a while--I'm talking My Creations kits, colors like Majestic Mountain and Aspen Green. THings we had 4 1/2 years ago when I started. Ugh! I need to have a sale or a free for all at my house or something. Hmm...now the wheels are turning. Maybe I will organize something...I'll keep you posted :)

A few Brayer cards

I'm teaching Brayer techniques at my technique class on Wednesday. These are the cards we will be making.

Snow Friends

I made this card for a swap yesterday. I love the way it turned out. It's hard to tell in the pic, but I used fun flock on the base of the snowmen and in the snowflakes. I used CTMH's Snow Friends stamps and Caprice papers.

The Experiment

Fellow mother of boys and CTMH consultant, Korin Sutherland , has tagged me for this experiment which was originally started by Mary Demuth (http://www.relevantblog.blogspot.com/). "It's an experiment to see how many degrees we can separate (kind of like Kevin Bacon, only it's relevantblog). How many people can one blog potentially reach?"

Here goes:

10 years ago--1997

I was in college (3 years in and sadly 3 more from graduating) at Boise State--GO BRONCOS! Mike and I were semi-engaged (talking wedding but no ring yet because we were poor college students). We would get married the following December. We had only been together a few months, but had been friends and roommates for 3 years. That's a whole other story. I was working at Van Heusen to pay for school and at that point just deciding to switch my major from Biology to English.

20 years ago--1987

I was in 6th grade, so we were living in Palm Desert, CA. I was in middle school. COuldn't tell you much more (how sad is that). I do remember going to a lot of movies and hanging out at the mall. I also hung out a lot at my friends' houses in the summer because I swear we were the only ones in the desert without a pool. A year later we moved from there to good old Hesperia, where I would graduate high school and get the heck out of there--only to return ten years later by some weird twist of fate.

Don't have a pic to represent that--sorry!

30 years ago--1977

I was a year old--almost 2. I really don't remember much about that--you'd have to ask my mom--LOL! I do know that I still had almost no hair and everyone thought I was a boy. I loved my Grover and carried it everywhere with me. Oh and I didn't like Santa Clause--this was taken at Christmas that year (eerily similar to Brendan's picture last year!)

I guess I need to tag a few people, so here goes:

Sarah (http://rileycentral.net/partyof5/)

Cyndie (http://robncynnie.blogspot.com/) Maybe you'll actually write something now--LOL

Boy everyone else on my list has been tagged by someone else on my list--I don't want to double tag, so I'll stick with 2.

Drink Charms

I did these drink charms for a swap I'm in. I'm sorry that they aren't the greatest pictures. The first set I stamped images on shrinky dinks to make the charms. The second set I stamped and layered cardstock then laminated it to make the charms. I think these will make cute Christmas gifts, along with the coasters.

On a side-note, I did discover that I am totally bead challenged. By the time I was done, my fingers were killing me and I will probably be finding beads all over the house for years to come--LOL! I don't know how people who make jewelry do it. Not my cup of tea.

More card packs

Here were some more I did for the craft fair. Some of the papers are CTMH and some are Wild Asparagus.

And the Winner is...

Linda ss. Please email me and I'll get your card kit in the mail shortly :) Congratulations! Thanks to all of you who visit and read my ramblings.

Craft Fair Tomorrow

If you are local, be sure to come to Mesquite Trails Elementary School tomorrow between 11 and 2. Bring the kids too. The school is having their Fall Round-Up with games and activities for the kids, plus raffles and the craft fair. My friend Cyndie and I will have a booth there selling handmade scrapbook embellishments, coasters, cards, mini-books and more. I can't wait! Hope to see you there :)

Yes, I smell like Shaving Cream!

Ugh! I was eating a little snack (and I'll admit it, doing a little reading while eating). I could here the children playing and didn't think anything of it. After all they've been wearing their new Halloween costumes all day and having a great time of it. Then Austin tells me "Brendan's in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom". I said "Go get him out. " No big deal. He comes out again a few minutes later saying Brendan won't leave. So I go back there, expecting that maybe he's been playing in the water in the sink. What I find is a little more horrifying--there is SHAVING CREAM EVERYWHERE!!!

Brendan is all wet because he's on the counter trying to clean it. I change him and go back to clean it up. You name it there's shaving cream on it--must have been a new can. Blue foam in the tub, on the shower, the mirror, the counters, all the stuff on the counters. The cute little basket I had on the sink is ruined, not to mention shaving cream in every votive and candle in the basket!

Then, here comes the kicker... after 30 minutes of cleaning out everything in the bathroom (ok I went ahead and cleaned the bathroom while I was in there)...I find out AUSTIN WAS THE ONE WHO SPRAYED THE SHAVING CREAM! It wasn't my curious little 2 year old who was trying to clean it up, it was the big one who knows better. Yikes! And before you ask--no I didn't take pictures. Now that I'm calmed down, I wish I would have :(

And how was your day?

Gift Card Holder

I made this for my brother's birthday on Sunday. I used CTMH's Free Spirit papers. I'll be teaching a class on gift card holders in November--stay tuned!

More cards...

I've been busy working on things for the craft fair I'm doing on Saturday. Here's a couple card kits. I did two different holders. THe clear one is easier, but the cardstock one is so much cuter--decisions, decisions. I used the Life Delights paper for these cards--I love this paper. While' your here, don't forget to leave a comment on my Blog Candy post, so you can win one of these card packs!

It's fall and time to give away some candy...

Don't you just love fall? Cooler weather, pumkins and beautiful fall colors (at least for those of you that don't live in the desert like me). I love this time of year. I love Halloween and Thanksgiving and all the expectation of the holiday season. I love carmel apples and chocolate chip pumkin bread (thank you for this Angie!). Sipping hot cocoa and chai tea . Now if I could just find somewhere to go take pictures of my kids with the fall leaves...


I know, enough about fall, wasn't there something in that title about candy? For those of you who have counters in the tens of thousands, this isn't a big deal, but I'm at almost 1,000 hits--very exciting for me :) I figured it's time for me to give away some blog candy. I am going to be giving away one of my card sets in their cute little holder, similar to the one below :)



How do you get one? Easy, leave a comment to this post between now and next Saturday, October 13th telling me what you love about fall. If you hate fall, I suppose you could tell me that too--LOL! I will draw a random winner from all the comments I get next Sunday. Good Luck!

More Coasters

Here's a couple more sets. I wanted to try these and they were so fun and quick, I'm making a bunch for the craft fair my friend Cyndie and I are doing next week. I finished 8 sets last night. I used Staz-On and Sharpies. The one of only three, I messed up the fourth one and ran out of those tiles. The snow friends one was bugging me, so I added more snowflakes and like it better :) To get the blue background, I used chalk and sealed it with acrylic spray.

Coasters--something different

I made these this morning

How does my house get so messy so fast?!

I can understand things like laundry and dishes getting out of control fast, but how the heck does the whole house seem to fall apart in seconds? Today--spent most of the morning while Austin was at school cleaning their play room. Got most of it picked up and Austin comes home from school and they go in and dump a bunch of stuff out of the bins. Stuff I just picked up! So I tell them to help me. Almost got it clean again and while I'm cleaning, they've abandoned me to build a train track IN MY LIVING ROOM! The one room already cleaned. I get so tired of it.

It doesn't seem to matter whether I spend the day cleaning or creating/doing stuff for me--either way by the end of the day, the house is a mess. I sometimes wonder what is the point of cleaning?! Ok, enough of my rant! I was taking a much needed break. Now I'd better go get the playroom and hallway vacuumed before they are covered in toys again. Maybe, just maybe, they'll build a great enough track in the front room that they'll play with it all night and I can relax and get some fun stuff done (wishful thinking I know, but let me keep the dream a little longer).

No new artwork :(

I've been working on a lot of goodies for this month's craft fair, as well as some cute Christmas cards, but I can't upload them onto the computer. Seems one of my little darlings managed to break my card reader. I extracted some cardstock from it this morning and now it won't work. Mike is going to be thrilled about that one. I don't know why they have to mess with EVERYTHING on the desk. A couple days ago they had a "paper party" with all my order forms and I found them scattered all over the room. They keep taking the memory cards out of the drawe and I think the web cam is somewhere behind the computer desk. Might be time to install a lock on the door!

Anyway, that's why there isn't any fun new stuff posted. I guess I could go dig out my cable and figure that out, but I'd rather spend the time making more fun new goodies! Hopefully Mike will be able to get it up and running tonight.